In
a land so cold the ice never melts. In a place that is so far north
it is almost south. Where the land is gray and barren. There lived
three friends; the dolphin, the fish, and the penguin. Each were
alone, abandoned by their own kind. They depended on each other for
their survival. They were very close friends and each would trust
the others with their life. One night they talked, under the Northern
Lights. The Aurora was the only light, and the only source of color
in this dismal landscape.

"I
wish our home could be as colorful as the sky tonight," sighed the
penguin.

"It
is beautiful," agreed the dolphin.

"Once
a whale told me that if someone really wishes hard the Great Lights
will give it to them. If the wish is made with a pure and unselfish
heart," said the fish, "Is that what you would ask for? To color
our world?"

"Yes,"
said the penguin, "I dream of it every night. I want to see our
home shining with all the colors of the Great Lights."

"What
I dream of," said the fish, "Is to see the deepest part of the
ocean. To see the depths that the whales tell me about."

"But
you'd never make it that far!" exclaimed the dolphin, "You
might get hurt or worse."

"It
is my dream and I know it is hard. I wish by the Great Lights that it
may come true," replied the fish firmly.

"What
about your dreams? What is it you would want to do, that you would
want to see?" the penguin asked the dolphin.

"No,
we told you ours," stated the fish, "Besides on a night like
tonight your wish may just come true."

"What
I have always dreamed of," the dolphin said longingly, "was to
jump over the sun. I see it up so high, shining so brightly and I
want to reach it."

"That
is so amazing. I hope your dream comes true," said the penguin.

They
talked and gazed at the Northern Lights all night. Soon the first
gray rays of dawn were reaching across the horizon. The three
friends did not get to see that sunrise, though, because a ferocious
blizzard arose soon before the sun began the new day. The blizzard
raged for three days and the three friends hid from the vicious
winds. The landscape was a blur of gray swirls. The three friends
ignored their dreams and focused solely on staying alive.

Then one day the
storm broke. The penguin crawled out of the cave that he was hiding
in and began to explore the wind swept world. He blinked with bleary
eyes at the plain landscape. The fish and the dolphin stuck their
noses out of the ocean and looked out across their dull, colorless
home.

The penguin was
waddling by the ocean, looking for the fish and the dolphin, when
something sparkling in the snow caught his eye. The penguin bent
down to get a better look. Out of the snow the penguin pulled a
beautiful pearl that had washed up in the storm. The penguin turned
the pearl and it flashed in the sunlight.

"This
is beautiful," thought the penguin. He found a piece of
string and tied the pearl to his neck. Then he waddled off to find
his friends.

"What
a storm!" exclaimed the fish, as soon as they found each other.

"I
thought you would be used to them by now," remarked the penguin.

"Oh,
my!" cried the dolphin, looking at the penguin's neck, "Where
did you find such a beautiful pearl!?"

"It
washed up in the storm," said the penguin with a shrug.

"Look
at the way it sparkles," cooed the fish.

"It
reminds me of the sun," said the dolphin. The dolphin paused,
remembering for the first time since the blizzard hit about her dream
to jump over the sun.

"I'm
going to do it. I am going to jump over the sun today," said the
dolphin with an unswayable determination.

"What!?"
exclaimed the fish.

"Wishing
is all very good," said the dolphin, "but it does not do you much
good if you do not try to make your own dreams come true."

"I
really think you can do it," said the penguin confidently. "With
that kind of attitude nothing is impossible."

"Thank
you," said the dolphin, and with that she dove deep into the ocean.
She dove deeper than she ever had before. When the dolphin could
not go any farther because she was afraid her lungs would burst, she
turned around and charged to the surface. With a mighty wave of
power the dolphin broke through the water and leapt towards the sun.
The penguin and the fish looked on in wonder. The dolphin soared
higher and higher. When it looked like the dolphin was almost to the
sun she began to plummet. She feel back into the water with a huge
splash.

"Oh!"
cried the fish in disappointment, as the dolphin resurfaced.

"That
was so close! I think you can make it if you try to jump again,"
said the penguin.

"Yes.
It would not be a dream worth pursuing if I did not try again,"
said the dolphin. "Just let me catch my breath."

A
few seconds later the dolphin dove again. She dove deeper than she
did the last time. Despite the tightness in her chest the dolphin
did not stop diving until she had reached the bottom. With a mighty
thrust of her tail the dolphin began to ascend again pushing herself
to go faster and faster. The dolphin broke the surface of the ocean
and jumped with all her might. The dolphin rose farther and farther.
Down below the fish and the penguin silently prayed for the dolphins
success, their hearts joining with the hope that the dolphin had.
The dolphin had risen farther than she had on the first jump but
still was not to the sun when it began to fall again. She fell back
into the ocean with a huge splash.

"I
thought for sure that the dolphin would have made it," said the
fish.

"I
just wish there was something we could do to help," said the
penguin, as the dolphin appeared above the waves.

"Maybe-"
said the fish to himself, beginning to get an idea.

"I
just can't get deep enough!" said the dolphin exasperated.

"There
maybe something I can do to help," said the fish. "I will dive
down and find the deepest place in the ocean I can. That is my dream
and in doing so I can help you fulfill yours."

"But
it is too dangerous!" exclaimed the penguin, "You could get
really hurt!"

"The
dolphin is right, though. A dream that is not worth the effort, not
worth the risk is not worth achieving," said the fish. "This is
something I must do."

"Then
good luck to you my friend," said the penguin.

"Thank
you for doing this," said the dolphin, slightly choked up. "It
means so much to me."

Without another word
the fish dove into the depths of the ocean. The fish dove to the
ocean floor. Down there he explored, looking for a trench, the
deepest part of the ocean that the whales spoke about, looking for
the place that would fulfill its dreams and the dreams of the
dolphin. Soon a long canyon appeared in the ocean floor. The fish
dove into the canyon gazing around at the wonders of the ocean floor;
the high dark cliffs, the misty seaweed, the smooth rocks, and the
shifting shadows.

"This
is it," thought the fish, excitedly. Then he began to rise to
the surface to return to his friends.

Meanwhile, on the
surface the dolphin and the penguin were talking.

"I
want to do something to help you too," said the penguin to the
dolphin. "I want you to have this." The penguin took off the
pearl and put it around the dolphin's neck.

"Thank
you, but I cannot accept this," said the dolphin, greatly honored
by the gidt.

"I
want you to have it. I want you to know that your friends are always
with you. We want you to succeed too. Take this pearl so that our
hopes will always be near your heart," said the penguin. The fish
then returned.

"I
found it, a place that is deep enough for you to dive. It is so
amazing down there. It is completely different from here," said
the fish, quickly, with a large smile.

"Congratulations,
but I am just glad that you returned safely," said the penguin who
was relieved.

"This
is it. I am going to do it. I am going to fulfill my dream," said
the dolphin nervously.

"Then
follow me," said the fish. "I'll show you to the canyon."
The dolphin and the fish dove into the ocean together. The penguin
watched silently as they swam off, waddling back and forth. The fish
came back to the penguin after a few minutes.

"I
showed the dolphin the canyon," said the fish. " We have done
everything we can do, the dolphin must do the rest on its own."

"No,"
said the penguin, " as long as we believe and hope and wish and
dream together we will never have to do anything on our own."

During this the
dolphin was diving into the depths of the sea. Driven by
determination and will-power the dolphin continued, ignoring the pain
in her lungs. When she finally reached the bottom of the canyon the
dolphin wasn't sure if she would have the strength to jump. But
the thought of failure was unacceptable. She quickly pushed it out of
her mind—her friends believed in her.

"I
must do this. I will succeed. I want to succeed," thought
the dolphin. The dolphin gave a powerful flick of her tail and began
to swim to the surface. Faster and faster she pushed itself,
determined not to fail. She gathered strength from every muscle in
her body as she prepared to jump.

The dolphin broke
through the waves and propelled herself high into the air. She soared
higher and higher. The fish and the penguin watched hopefully from
below, the penguin's beak hanging slightly open. The dolphin
continued to climb without slowing.

The dolphin reached
the sun. A silhouette of the dolphin arching her back as she
prepared to dive back in the water was burned into the hearts of the
penguin and the fish. The dolphin hung by the sun suspended for a
couple seconds.

Then a ray of
sunlight caught the pearl around the dolphin's neck. A rain bow of
color shot off of the pearl and covered the land below. The three
friends were temporarily blinded as the dolphin dove back in the sea
with a triumphant splash. When they opened their eyes they all could
not believe what they saw. The formerly gray snow mounds sparkled
with crimsons and indigos and teals. Snow drifts were lilac and the
cliffs were pale green. Their whole world shone with all the colors
of the rainbow.

Then the three
friends looked at each other. They had all changed. The once gray
dolphin was now a deep royal blue; the blue of the deep determination
that the dolphin had in pursuing her dreams. The penguin was pure
crystal, the color of a perfect diamond. The pure unselfish
friendship that the penguin had shown to his friends was now visible
for all to see. The fish was a bright yellow, bright as the courage
he had shown when it faced the unknown deep. The sun shone an
intense red to show the whole world how hope can brighten lives. The
pearl remained white, a symbol of the faith that the three friends
had put in each other.

"Thank
you. Thank you so much," said the penguin with tears in his eyes.
"You have also made my dream come true."

"We
did it all together. None of us could have accomplished what we just
did without each other," said the dolphin.

"By
believing in us and by not quitting we have made our world better,"
said the fish.

The three friends
continued to share their dreams beneath the Northern Lights. They
always encouraged each other to follow those dreams and gave whatever
help they could. They lived in their multicolored landscape until
the end of their days. Their world became much more beautiful then
when they got there. All this happened because of a dream, the
determination to fulfill it, the courage to face any obstacles, the
hope to keep going when all seems lost, friends to help you through
the hard times, and faith that everything will turn out right.

8

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.